| Newsletter no. 3 December
3, 2004 Our second year has flown
by and the Trust has now certainly moved up a gear. There has been so much progress that
it is hard to know where to begin.
We have had three training visits lasting
two weeks each from ILPH during the course of the year. They are running courses in
farriery and harness making and we are very grateful to them for their help. We now have
the first group of farriers competent at trimming and balancing feet in the country and we
hope that they will 'graduate' in January. The harness making has taken a little longer to
establish as it has been quite difficult to source materials, but the teething troubles
are almost sorted and we shall soon have our own harness makers. This will mean that we
can start reducing our tack appeal as more and more of the equipment is made in the
country.
Chrissy, our manager, and the 'Horse and
Donkey' staff have spent three days a week at 'lumos,' or markets, holding clinics,
patiently explaining how to avoid problems and just generally 'educating.' On the other
days she has been attending to sick horses in the villages, running the 'Donkey Club'
after school for the boys who care for the donkeys so that they can learn better care and
management techniques. Chrissy also teaches at the school twice a week. In these lessons,
which are almost entirely biology, the children learn yet more about the needs of horses
and donkeys and other livestock.
Three teams of vets and veterinary nurses
from Worldwide Veterinary Services have been out to help us, a total of 14 people
altogether. We want everything we do to have a long-term impact, so the vets come out to
train the Gambian paravets and our staff. So far they have concentrated mainly on staff
training, but as from next year we shall be liasing with the Government Veterinary
Service, so the paravets can benefit from the training sessions as well. The visiting vets
have also given lectures to the Gambian veterinarians and try to help in whatever way they
can. They have provided us with equipment, medicines and encouragement and are advising us
on setting up a small laboratory at our up-country headquarters. This is particularly
remarkable as all these vets and nurses pay their own airfares and give their services
totally free of charge. Their help and advice has been invaluable and we have the highest
regard and respect for them.
Claudia Bunn, an expert in driving horses
and training horses, visited us again in September and her demonstrations were well
received, I quote from a letter I received from one of the village leaders after her visit
"I will tell you that Miss Colodia has talk to us much about fitting harness on
the horse cart and the important of the single tree on the cart. The second important
thing is how to train young horses so that they can be use on work because it will
minimize lot of problems on young horses to break their leg or the cart. We want more
training like this in The Gambia please and we promise we will put single tree on the cart
before the next visit" For single tree, read swingle tree.
The Gambians, who have no tradition of
horsemanship, had not realized that horses had to be trained to pull carts and they simply
tied them in. This of course resulted in much wasted effort and many accidents. It has
been quite a revelation that they can be trained to respond to verbal commands and the
training has been appreciated by the Gambians. Thanks to support from SPANA we have been
able to distribute a large number of bits. In addition to those we have collected, SPANA
have given us a total of 3,000 bits and this has had a radical impact on the lives of the
animals who have received them. We are also very grateful to SPANA for sharing
their knowledge with us and giving us so much encouragement.
Our centre now boasts a new stable block
for donkeys, thanks to The Donkey Sanctuary, who have also provided us with
dentistry equipment for donkeys and a very generous supply of wormers. Our accommodation
house for volunteers 'Bridge House' has also been completed and is at present occupied by
Chrissy and a volunteer veterinary surgeon, Caroline Rice. We still have to complete
furnishing the building, but we can now claim to have the very first flushing toilets in
the district! We have it wired for electricity and hope to install solar power in the near
future, thanks to a grant from The Animal Defence Trust.
One of the highlights of the year was the
production of a video called ' You really can make a Difference' This was made up of
footage taken by Claudia Bunn and was edited and narrated by Ken Barnsley and Laura
Duncalfe, who gave their services free of charge. A very big thank you to everyone
involved in the making of the video. If you would like a copy of this excellent video,
perhaps for fundraising purposes, please contact me at the address below.
I am thrilled to be able to tell you that
as a result of all the work, the animals are really beginning to benefit. I noticed at
Easter that the animals in our districts looked very much better. Each subsequent group of
vets has confirmed that despite the differing seasons the body condition scores have been
rising. Not only are they looking better, but they are working better too, and though we
can't say it was due entirely to the improved condition of the animals, this year there
has been an excellent harvest in our area.
Next year promises to be another exciting
year for us. We have just heard that we have been awarded a grant from the Petplan
Charitable Trust, for which we are immensely grateful, to build our laboratory and
treatment room. This has caused a great deal of excitement and has been a wonderful
Christmas gift for the Trust. It will be helpful to be able to make better-informed
diagnoses of the conditions presented to us. It is two hours to the nearest human clinic
and The Alexander Edwards Trust is building a small clinic in the village to help
the community. Like us, it is run entirely by volunteers and is being built in memory of
Alex Edwards, a much loved English boy, who tragically died of an undetected heart
condition at the age of 11.
We hope, through our work with horses and
donkeys, to benefit the whole community and have agreed to share our laboratory facilities
with The Alexander Edwards Clinic.
The Brooke Hospital are sending a
two man team out in early December for two weeks to do a welfare assessment and hopefully
their Chief Executive will be visiting us in the New Year. Their immense experience would
be of great benefit to a small and young charity like ours, and we hope we may be able to
work more closely with them in the future. We have recently received a large consignment
of headcollars from Animal Friends pet insurance to help publicize the launch of
their new equine insurance. Their gift to us was supplemented by Robinsons Country
Leisure and thanks to them both, a total of 258 headcollars will be available to the
needy horses and donkeys early in the New Year. We are also very grateful to Carr &
Day & Martin for their incredible generosity in supplying us with leather dressing
and supplements for the working animals who need a 'boost'
Many people have helped us in many ways,
and I don't want to mention anyone in particular for fear of offending someone by leaving
their name out. People have helped by fundraising, and donating equipment for the animals.
Some give their time to persuading other people in key positions to donate things, which
could be of use to us. (One lady who works for an envelope manufacturer persuaded her boss
to give us what must be a lifetime's supply of envelopes!) Some have worked hard
organizing shows or sponsored rides, tennis tournaments or quizzes, all of these involve a
great deal of hard work. Just saying 'Thank you' somehow doesn't seem sufficient, but I
know that if you could see the improvement in the animals as a result of your efforts, you
would know without doubt that all the agony was worthwhile! Chrissy works for a small
salary of £70 per week, and our Gambian staff are of course paid, but ALL other work for
the Trust is done on a voluntary basis. This all means that almost every penny donated to
us can go where it is most needed, directly into the field.
I am delighted and very proud of our staff
in The Gambia at the progress that has been made in just two years, but NONE of this would
have been possible without your help. It is you we have to thank most of all
and we would like to thank you sincerely. Together we have made a good start, and I hope
you will continue to support us in the future as we gradually move into new areas of The
Gambia with our education programme. Our aim is to make The Gambia the equine welfare
showcase of Africa and we can achieve it. But we cannot do it without you.
Together, we really can make a difference.
On behalf of everyone involved with The
Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, I would like to wish you and your animals a very Happy
Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Heather Armstrong |
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